Mario Golf: World Tour season pass and DLC outlined

Nintendo is dipping their toe into expandable product (read: DLC) with their upcoming offering of Mario Golf: World Tour. The game will ship feature complete with 10 courses and 126 holes of golf (equivalent to the previous titles) but will also add multiplayer and up to another 108 downloadable holes and new golfers. Let’s get into the details:

“We’re letting fans expand their experience with Mario Golf: World Tour,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Some players might be content hitting the links on the numerous courses already included with the game, while others will appreciate the option of being able to add to their fairway fun with new courses and characters.”

The downloadable content for the game will be released in three separate packs: the Mushroom Pack launching on May 2, the Flower Pack launching later in May and the Star Pack launching in June. Each pack includes two new 18-hole courses and a new playable character. Players will receive Toadette with the Mushroom Pack, Nabbit with the Flower Pack and Rosalina with the Star Pack.

Each pack will be available for $5.99 from Toad’s Booth, which can be found in the main menu of the game. Mario Golf: World Tour owners who know they want to buy all three add-on packs can buy a Season Pass at a discounted rate of $14.99 starting May 2. Season Pass holders will get access to each new pack as it becomes available, and will receive a special bonus of Gold Mario as a playable character at the time of purchase. Gold Mario has a special Golden Flower shot that gains coins for every yard it travels. For those who purchase all three packs individually, Gold Mario will also be available once all packs have been released. Nintendo will also offer Trial Tournaments for consumers interested in trying out a sample of the downloadable courses before deciding to purchase. Consumers who own the game and download the Trial Pack will be able to participate in these online tournaments.

It’s good that Nintendo is ensuring that the main game at least matches previous efforts – that’s DLC done right.

Mario Golf: World Tour launches on the Nintendo 3DS on May 2nd. Stay tuned for our review ahead of that date.